"Hurgh," Nah muttered as she tried harder and harder to reach for the book at the top of the bookshelf that had somehow been lucky enough to catch her eye. "Come on, come on," she mumbled to herself as she gave herself a bit of a boost by standing on her tippy toes and extending her arm even farther, "just… a little… more." She then saw someone's arm reach over her head from behind her and grab the book she had been trying so hard to get herself. "Huh?" She set herself down and looked behind her. She gasped. "Ananias!" she cried out, half out of surprise and half out of exasperation and disapproval.
Ananias playfully wagged the book in his hand, though because of his usual stone face, if anyone else had seen him do this, it would've looked a bit awkward to say the least. "Hey," he dully greeted. He then apathetically offered the book to Nah. "Here."
Much to his surprise, Nah actually gave him a cross look and irritated huff before quickly swiping the book out of his hand, wrapping her arms around it, and saying, "Hmph. I could've gotten it myself you know."
Ananias simply shrugged. "I guess." When Nah flashed him an irritated and questioning look, Ananias raised his hands up in an attempt to calm down the apparently angry Nah and calmly said, "I mean, yeah, if you had gotten yourself a stool or a chair or something to stand on, then yeah, you would've gotten your book just fine; but you didn't, and, well, no offense, but you weren't exactly going to get it anytime soon with the way you were trying to get it."
"Oh really?" Nah cried. "And why exactly is that Ananias, huh?!"
Taking a moment to recover from the initial shock caused by Nah's sudden, unprovoked outburst, Ananias answered, "Well -"
"Is it because of my height?!" Nah asked. "Is that it? Because if it is, then let me kindly remind you that I can turn into a humongous dragon whenever I feel like it!"
Ananias frowned and took a cautious step back due to the strange behavior Nah was currently exhibiting. "Y-Yeah, but… then you'd be too big." After a moment of awkward silence, Ananias, oblivious to how much his innocently made comment inadvertently aggravated the already fuming Nah, added, "And your dragon arms are just so tiny."
"Gah!" Nah cried, startling Ananias enough to make him jump back in surprise.
Once it looked like Nah was finally beginning to calm down from her sudden outburst, Ananias took a moment to recompose himself before asking, "You alright?"
Nah sighed as she wearily rubbed her forehead and nodded her head. "Better." She averted her eyes to the ground as she sheepishly blushed and fiddled her feet. "I'm sorry for getting so angry at you Ananias. You didn't deserve that. It's just," she sighed again, "I was mistaken and treated like I was a helpless little girl again today."
"Oh," Ananias said. "Well, no offense, but shouldn't you be used to it by now? I mean, not everyone can know what you are, right? Wouldn't mistaking you for a little girl make sense then?"
Nah sighed. "I know," she admitted dejectedly. "But I still can't help but feel annoyed every time it happens, you know?"
Ananias nodded his head sympathetically. "Yeah. It's kind of like how much it annoys me every time someone doesn't believe me whenever I tell someone that I'm related to the Annas. I should be used to it, and in a way, I am, but a part of me still hasn't."
"Exactly," Nah said. "We've got to find some way to get people to see who we really are."
Ananias frowned. "Isn't the fact that people can't believe in what we really are a part of who we are?" he asked.
Nah gave Ananias a baffled look. "What?!" She took a moment to ponder on Ananias' strange words. "Well, I mean, yeah, I guess, but do you really want that to be?"
Ananias simply shrugged. "No," he answered. "But if that's how things are then maybe we should just accept them and move on to more important things, you know?"
Nah gave Ananias a disapproving frown. "No offense Ananias, but that's a terrible way to live! There's nothing wrong with trying to make your life better or telling people that something's wrong, is there?"
Ananias shook his head. "No, I guess not."
"Well, that's what we're going to do!" Nah explained with a smile on her face. "We're going to make out lives better by making sure people realize that their first impressions and assumptions about us are wrong! I'll try to find a way to make people believe that I'm not a helpless child and you'll try to find a way to make people believe you when you tell them what your lineage is! We can even help each other out!"
"Whoa," Ananias said, casually raising his hands up to signal for Nah to slow down just a bit. "Since when did I say I was agreeing to this?"
"Oh, come on Ananias!" Nah begged. "Please? It would feel so weird if I was the only one doing it!"
Ananias sighed. "Alright, fine, I'll do it. Just promise me one thing."
Nah frowned. "And what exactly would that be?" she asked.
"Promise me that the next time you attempt to get something that's obviously out of your reach, you ask for help, alright? I mean, I know that you want to be treated like the adult that you are and all, but that doesn't really change how physically short you are, you know?"
Nah thought about it for a moment before nodding her head and giving Ananias a small smile. "Piece of cake."
Ananias raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Really?"
Nah nodded. "Yeah. After all, it's the adult thing to do, right?" She winked. "It's about time I started acting my age, don't you think?"
Ananias let out an amused chuckle as he gave Nah an equally amused half-smile. "Now that's the Nah I know."
Author's Note #1: Based on the response from last chapter, here is the final verdict:
1) Fates supports will start after Awakening supports have successfully been completed. Until Awakening supports have been completed, please refrain from requesting which Fates characters within the list you want to see next.
2) I have always personally seen Ananias as straight and when I asked about it, no one seemed to demand it, so Ananias will stay straight, meaning that there will be no S Support for male units in Fates.
3) I will consider adding more support options to the Fates list, but so far, that has only extended towards the other Nohrian royals (Xander, Leo, and Camilla) and Kanna if Kanna was a child born of Owain/Odin, Inigo/Laslow, and Severa/Selena.
Thank you all for your input! I hope those who are excited for the Fates supports are willing to be patient until we get there!
Author's Note #2: New question: Should Ananias have a Fates child? While I did say that I would consider Ananias as a glorified DLC, if you guys want it, I certainly wouldn't mind taking up the challenge.
That's it for now. I hope that you guys enjoyed this support and are patiently awaiting the next one! See you next time!
